


Night's Plutonian Shore

by AcaigaWrites



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Sharing a Bed, Telepathic Bond, Telepathy, TenRose - Freeform, bed sharing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 20:05:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18999577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcaigaWrites/pseuds/AcaigaWrites
Summary: Suspended impossibly in the orbit of a Black Hole, the Doctor and Rose come to terms with the concept of a new future.





	Night's Plutonian Shore

There was a sort of strange silence to the atmosphere as they sat opposite one another at the table, alone yet together in the night cycle of the Krop-Tor base. The drill was a continuous drone, a disquieting hum that broke that broke what would have otherwise been an unbearable silence, but it wasn't a familiar one; the TARDIS was gone, and had taken her comfort and solace with her.

" _Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing_..."

The Doctor trailed off, looking back to the ceiling - or, what should have been a ceiling, and was instead a display of the impossible black hole above them. The crew had long since retired to their quarters, after generously allocating Rose a bunk room of her own and leaving the pair to their own devices. Scooti's death needed to be mourned privately by the people who knew her. And now the two of them sat in a stunned silence, pondering.

" _Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before_."

The Doctor paused at Rose's unexpected continuation, then smiled softly at her. She was staring, too, one hand fiddling with her hoop earring. "You know old Edgar?"

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "'Course I do. I did go to Sixth Form, y'know. Got the grades to get in. Just... ended up droppin' out. But everyone knows a bit of Poe." She stopped short, dropping her hand. "Still. Feels a bit accurate right about now."

They lapsed into another silence, a quietness born from a feeling of loss, mourning their home. The Doctor's busy mind drifted to their conversation just an hour or so earlier, his chest stirring with the brief recollection, his hearts simultaneously skipping a beat. He ached to so much as reach out and hold her again.

_Stuck with you, that's not so bad._

_Yeah?_

_Yes._

He cast his gaze back to her, to his brilliant, clever, precious Rose. _Yours. You pretentious bastard, as if you have any right to call her such a thing._

Rose's loud yawn wrenched him from his thoughts. "C'mon you. You might not need sleep, but I definitely do. Up the wooden hill." She accentuated her last sentence with an outstretched hand to his shoulder, tapping him lightly.

One part of his mind briefly wandered to thoughts of their room arrangements. He hadn't been allocated one out of his pure insistence that he didn't need or want to sleep. He tried to push away the feelings of disappointment at not having the opportunity to share, to have her close. He'd been careful; contact limited to hand-holding, embraces, but nothing that could give away just how deep his feelings for her ran.

Nothing that could give away just how much she kept his old hearts beating.

The Doctor followed her along the corridors, which well and truly looked like they'd been built directly from an Ikea package, one hand resting on the small of Rose's back as they walked. He told himself it was for her comfort, to reassure her. And yet, as always, he found himself soothed by her proximity. Soothed to the point where he could have almost stopped thinking about their location and likely fate.

"Alright," Rose said as they stopped by a door, "this is me, apparently."

"So it is," the Doctor agreed, dropping his hand from her back to rub at the back of his head nervously. "Are you... gonna be alright? On your own? Y'know, because... I don't know. Just, everything that's happened, I thought-"

"I'll be fine, Doctor," Rose said gently, reaching for his hand to squeeze it before releasing once again. "But then, will you?"

"Me? Me, I'm dandy, don't need much sleep." He smiled, lying through his teeth. "Probably going to read, or something. Do you think they have books? I hope they have books. Books are brilliant, don't you think? Don't suppose they have a library here, do you? A library, like our one on the TAR-" His face fell, and Rose's expression saddened.

"I'm sure there'll be some books, Doctor." Rose's eyes had blurred over, welling with tears, and if he didn't have such good control over his physiology, his would be watering too. "But for now, I think I'd better sleep. See you in the mornin', yeah?"

The Doctor nodded, stepping forward to embrace her. He tried not to think about her warmth, about how good she felt against him, but it was unavoidable really. She fit him, as if it was just _right_ that she was in his arms. "Yeah. See you in the morning, Miss Tyler. Bright and early!"

She released him with a kiss to the cheek, and entered her room, waving as the door closed after her. He stood alone in the corridor, not knowing what exactly to do with himself. He could go to his bunk room, but he had slept two days ago - he wouldn't need to for at least another week or two. Alternatively, he could go sit back at the table, wait the night through, or at least until Rose woke up.

That is to say, of course, if she could fall asleep to begin with.

The Doctor set aside his rambling thought train, burying the errant images deeper into his subconscious, and sighed. He couldn't just stand there in wait for Rose to decide she needed him, to open the door and ask for him, to -

"Doctor?"

He looked back, startled from his own thoughts as Rose stepped back through the door. She was still fully-clothed, meaning he likely hadn't been standing there as long as he thought.

"Rose," he acknowledged, mildly surprised but glad all the same. "What's wrong?"

"Nothin'," she mumbled. "I mean, not with me. But, I thought, maybe... y'know, 'cause I know you haven't got anythin' to do. Sorry, 'm not making any sense."

"You are, don't worry. Tell me what's up."

"Will you stay with me?" Rose blurted, and he watched in somewhat guilty pleasure as her cheeks flushed. "I know you don't usually like domestics so much, but maybe..."

The Doctor smiled, a soft one through his lips that he reserved only for her. "If that's what you want." 

* * *

Politely averting his gaze as she undressed, the Doctor focused on removing his jacket, oxford and tie. He was hit by a sudden crisis, debating on whether the best course of action was to remove his trousers. Would she be comfortable with that? Or would he just be causing unnecessary awkwardness? All of their bed clothes were in the TARDIS. They weren't going to share a bed; there were two beds to each dorm room, and there was no way she'd want to, surely.

"Doctor, d'you mind if I have your shirt?"

It was an off-hand comment on Rose's part. It startled him, but when he looked at her face she showed no sign of embarrassment. "Of course. Here you go."

He passed her the shirt, trying not to think about the fact that all she was wearing was her underwear and his oxford. She donned it, then climbed to the top bunk, wrapping herself in the bed quilt. "Thanks. Are you gonna try to sleep?"

"Depends, really." The Doctor, out of Rose's view, shucked off his trousers, turned the lights off and lay down in the bunk below his companion's. The bed itself was mildly comfortable; not quite TARDIS-bedroom standard, but it would easily suffice. God only knew how long they would be here. He'd be off one day, off this literal hell-station. But Rose... Rose might live to see the end of her brief days here. His stomach churned at the notion, and he shifted uncomfortably in the bed.

He couldn't stop moving after that, trying to block out the intrusive thoughts as they came unbidden. His time sense told him five minutes, ten, twenty of tossing and turning.

The bunk ladder creaked, accompanied by the sound of footsteps against the rungs. "Budge over. Can't sleep when you're constantly movin'."

His response fell flat against his tongue, and something in his mind was laughing at him for being rendered speechless by a simple comment. Nevertheless, he found himself shifting, moving towards the side of the bed against the wall, but Rose's hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"I'll climb over, 'kay? I know you like to be near a door," she murmured, and he assisted her as she clambered over him, careful not to bump her head against the higher bunk in the darkness. Rose slipped beneath the blanket, wedged between the Doctor and the wall behind her. The bunks were single beds, and so there was very little room for two grown adults.

"Thank you," he whispered quietly, and he felt Rose fall still in front of him.

"What for?" She asked.

The Doctor's hand came to rest over her hip, atop the blanket that covered them both. "Everything, I... Good God, where am I supposed to start? First off, I suppose, thank you not hating me."

He couldn't see her in the dark, but he could feel her eyes on his. She shifted closer to him, winding her arm over his side. He shivered at the sensation of her hand against his bare skin, but if Rose noticed then she didn't comment on it.

"Why on Earth would I hate you, you daft alien?"

Well, he hadn't quite expected that. "Like I said earlier, at dinner. I... I trapped you here, with no way out."

"That wasn't your fault," she insisted, and her fingers began to trail the course of his exposed back. He shuddered pleasantly. "It wasn't, Doctor. You didn't know, you couldn't. Even if... even if we're stuck. It's you and me, yeah? And we'll be alright."

The Doctor's hearts pulled, and he drew her slightly closer, aware of the boundaries he had placed and was now beating down with a metaphorical sledgehammer. Rose allowed it, tucking her free hand against the Doctor's uncovered chest and trailing a fingernail absent-mindedly. He moved his hand atop the blankets to her back to pull her further against him, holding her in an embrace.

"Is this alright?" He murmured. "I don't want to assu-"

"It's alright," Rose assured him, tucking her face into his shoulder. "You're not assuming anythin'."

They fell silent, relishing the company and physical contact of one another and joined only by the light sounds of their own breathing. Seconds passed, turned to minutes, and still the Doctor was no closer to sleep. Nor was Rose, apparently, as he heard her give the slightest sniff. She didn't have a cold, so...

"Rose," he muttered softly, raising a finger to the corner of her eye. He felt the dampness there, wiped it away. "Oh, my precious girl, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be," Rose croaked, nuzzling her cheek into the palm of the Doctor's hand. "I'm just tired, that's all. Been... eventful. I... I think it's just hittin' me, that's all. We're here, for... well, a long time. A long, _long_ time. I just need to know somethin', and you gotta tell me honestly."

"Anything, Rose, anything at all."

"Promise me, then," she whispered. "Promise me you won't leave me. And not just words, Doctor. Could you mean them?"

The Doctor's hearts simultaneously broke within his ribcage, and lost with them all impulse-restraint he owned. He practically crushed her to his chest, winding his hands into her hair and twining his bare legs with hers. She responded in kind, wrapping her arms around him and holding fast and tight. The sudden movements had quickened their breathing, and it was impossible not to notice the rapid tension that had built between them. Their faces were close enough that they were breathing the same air, the flutter of each other's shortened breaths against their lips.

"I'll always mean them, Rose," the Doctor murmured, and then his mouth was on hers.

Rose gave the slightest gasp, surprised by the boldness, and the Doctor's first instinct was to pull away. Instead of doing so, he froze alongside her.

_Pull away, apologise, don't look at her again until she can forgive you for taking advantage. Let her slap you, since her mother isn't here to do it for her._

Just as he was about to attempt to preserve his dignity, Rose's shock melted away and she came alive against him.

Their lips moved with the ease of ones who had learned one another, knew every secret and story hidden behind. Rose's mouth was pliant beneath his, fitting to his own like a missing piece to a puzzle, awakening something long-dormant within. The slightest whimper from her had him weak at the knees, and any semblance of doubt that it was what they both wanted went straight through the window.

She tilted her head for a better angle, threading delicate fingers into the organised chaos of his hair, drawing a satisfied groan from him. If it hadn't been her that he had made such noise for, he perhaps would have been embarrassed. But it wasn't anyone else, it was _Rose_ , and it always would be.

_I'm so glad I met you._

_Me too._

Heaven was Rose Tyler, he was sure, as her nails scraped lightly against his scalp, and heaven was her tongue against his, and heaven was the two of them in this narrow bunk beneath a black hole. His hands slipped beneath the fabric of the shirt she wore - _his shirt_ , he remembered with pleasure - and settled against her skin. He delighted in the shiver she gave in return, and there was a little more force to the kisses now.

_If anyone ever asks me what sort of a friend you are, I'll tell them: Rose Tyler, I'm lost without her._

Her fingers trailed across the angles of his jaw and grazed his sideburns, her body pressing ever impossibly closer to his. He sucked her lower lip into his, cherishing the moan that escaped her as he did so. He was fighting temptation, fighting some sort of primitive instinct to claim her, to leave his mark and shout to the heavens that she was his and his alone, and he was hers.

_I've always been yours. Without a shadow of a doubt._

His telepathy sparked, feeling her consciousness begin to press up against his. The simple touch alone was setting his mind alight, and the Doctor feared that, if he let this continue without warning her, he would cross into the most dangerous territory of all. Surface telepathy was one thing, but with heightened emotions and hormones, he might have lost all control and let it deepen ever further.

Even as his lust screamed at him to continue, to never pry his lips from hers, he resisted, pulling back to give her the chance to breathe. Even with his respiratory bypass he was struggling for respite, almost as if she had stolen his every breath. He opened his eyes to look at her own, saw their widened pupils and hazy glaze, and fought every impulse not to ravish her there and then.

"Rose," he gasped, running trembling hands through her golden hair. "I... we..."

"What's wrong?" Rose asked, panic evident just by her tone alone. "Is everythin' -"

He leant in to kiss her once more, resting his forehead against hers. "Everything's wonderful, Rose - brilliant, even - but there's something we need to... discuss. Before we... y'know."

"'M all ears," Rose said, gently brushing her nose against his. He couldn't resist another kiss.

"Time Lords," he murmured, trailing his lips across her jaw, "have different levels of intimacy. Intimacy in general was uncommon - we were a tight-laced bunch - but those who loved, they loved... thoroughly. There's surface telepathy, and you've seen that before, but there's something, far, far deeper."

"And you love me thoroughly?" Rose quirked an eyebrow, and the Doctor stuttered. "Wait, don't answer that. No pressure, promise."

He cupped her face in his hands, tracing her cheekbones with his thumbs. "But you already know the answer, don't you?" He leant in to press his lips to hers once more, the kiss languid and slow.

"Yeah," Rose agreed against his lips. "Yeah, I do."

"As I was saying, before a beautiful young lady interrupted me with her lovely, lovely lips," he winked, "there's something far deeper. And it's not something we do lightly, and in fact, it wasn't common at all. It's the biggest form of intimacy, and it's rather permanent, takes a lot to break, and-"

"Doctor," Rose hushed him, brushing the hair back from his forehead, "whatever it is, I trust you. And, whatever it is, I want it with you."

The Doctor's mouth fell open, awestruck by the certainty in his human's eyes. "I haven't even explained it to you, but you'd just... let me?"

_You don't even know what it is, you'd just let me?_

_Yeah._

"Did last time, didn't I? An' every time since." She teased. "But if it's that important to you, then feel free to explain."

"It's a bond. A telepathic bond. It's the most intimate thing a Time Lord can establish, and I don't want it to be an accident, because once I do it, there's no turning back. It's a union of the mind, essentially."

Rose's eyes softened as her fingers stroked through his hair. "Like... like marriage?"

"Of a sort, yes," the Doctor whispered. "But it's even more involved. No divorce papers, I'm afraid, and it's excruciatingly painful to try to break."

"I want that with you," she murmured, and the Doctor's hearts fluttered. "If you want it with me, then I do too."

"Rose, you have to be sure. I can't undo it. I'd... I'd be in your head. Forever."

"And I'd be in yours. It's what I want, Doctor. You n' me, right?"

The Doctor's mouth found hers again, smiling against her lips, his fingers tangling into her hair. "You and me, Rose Tyler. You and me."

His mind pushed into hers.

He couldn't see her, not in the traditional sense, but he could feel her as if she were all around him. There was warmth and joy, and a happiness so profound that he could have remained this way for an eternity. Tendrils of her thoughts wrapped around his own like a safety net; thoughts of good, thoughts of wonder, combining and twisting and warping into new formations. He caught a brief view of their timelines, and felt the pang of sorrow that accompanied it, and yanked himself away from the image, focusing instead on her entirely.

_We're inside your mind_ , Rose whispered in his head. _It's beautiful._

_There are things here I never wanted anyone to see. But in time, if you ever decide that you'd let me open those doors, then you'd have me. All of me._

_Doctor, I told you it's what I wanted. I do want all of you, and that means the bad things too._

The ground, although metaphysical and from his own mind, swayed beneath his feet. An emotion he couldn't put an English name to, but could easily place in Gallifreyan, overwhelmed his senses, filling him from the depths of his brain to the very essence of his soul. Unspeakable pleasure at their union, joy at their newly-forming bond. He twined mental strands, wove them together with the ease of a well-practiced physician, and he hoped she knew that she was the first person he had ever so much as attempted this with. And she would be the last and only.

"I love you," Rose said softly, and he opened his eyes to seek hers. Tears glistened within them, and he had never been more certain that what she was claiming was true.

The Doctor held her close, feeling the bond strengthening, relishing the feelings they were amplifying for each other, and sighed into her hair. He wanted her to know the depths of his feelings, how she had etched herself into the centre of his immortal soul.

As they fell together once again, no longer hindered by worries and fears and surrounded by their own pleasure, they cherished what they had built together. Tomorrow the Doctor would descend into the pit with Ida, and neither had the slightest notion of what he would find. For now it was them, and them alone, wrapped up in their own little world, suspended above the night's plutonian shore just below them.


End file.
